Tips to Get Faster, Stronger and More Flexible

Published 9:00 pm, Sunday, June 7, 2015

(StatePoint) If you work out a couple times a week, you are on the right path to good health. But experts say this can and should be just the beginning of your fitness journey.

“Our bodies are designed to be fast, powerful and agile,” says Paul “Coach” Wade, fitness expert and author of the new book “Explosive Calisthenics.” “However, modern Americans have become the slowest, least agile members of our species in all history.”

Wade says a vanishing percent of people even attempt to unlock their body’s full athletic potential. To help, he is offering tips to take your overall fitness to the next level.

Ditch the Excuses

Getting in great shape requires consistency, and it’s all too easy to make excuses for missing a workout. Whether you’re always on the road or can’t afford to renew your gym membership, Wade says such excuses don’t hold water.

“While modern training methods involve equipment like barbells, balls, boxes and gymnastics gear, the superior way of building maximum speed, power and ability is the old-school method of using just your body’s own weight, nothing else,” he says.

Whether you’re crunched for time or crunched for space, don’t let these circumstances prevent you from getting a great workout. Pushups, squats, leg raises, bridges and jumps are just a few fundamental exercises that can be performed in a small space without any gear.

Ditch the Fear

Traditional calisthenic moves used by gymnasts, martial artists, athletes and tumblers -- such as flips and kip-ups -- may seem intimidating. But Wade says that most people have the inherent ability to master such moves by working on each one in progressions.

“Movements like these have been handed down from generation to generation,” he says. “They should not be the exclusive domain of gymnasts.

Stay Focused

Don’t try to take shortcuts. Successful athletes don’t leap ahead and tackle moves they aren’t ready for -- they find ways to make the stuff they can already do work even better for them.